Nevermore
by VaporShadow
Summary: The daughter of Artemis. Sound familiar? Of course it doesn't; since Artemis isn't supposed to have kids... All the gods break rules once or more in a millennia, and for the first time, Artemis did. Her one and only daughter, Shea, was attacked. Her father was killed and she was taken to Camp Half-Blood. An eerie prophecy threatens that the Underworld is uprising. Can Shea stop it?


_Nevermore_

_The Daughter of Artemis_

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CAMP HALFBLOOD OR THE PEOPLE IN IT

CLAIMER: I DO, HOWEVER, OWN THE MAIN CHARACTERS AND THE STORY

THIS IS A FAN MADE BOOK BASED OFF OF RICK RIORDAN'S BOOKS

WRITTEN BY: LINDSEY S. WILSON

CREDIT GOES TO: AUTHOR RICK RIORDAN

Dedicated to my best friends:

Jahziel Mendoza and Jalen McKinney

Thank you for your friendship, mythology love, and support in writing this!

-Prologue-

Shea is an ordinary 16 year old girl who move This summer, her and her dad moved to New York. Shea isn't one for huge cities and hoards of people, but she figured that she might as well get used to it.

"I don't like it here." She complained to her father while unpacking.

"You'll get used to it, don't worry." He answered. "I know it's a big change from Arizona, but I'm doing this for your own sake."

She asked, "You say that about everything. How many times are we going to move in my lifetime? What is this- Our twelfth time moving? How is this for my own sake? I hate this place…"

"Trust me." He pleaded.

Shea sighed, "Hard not to."

"Look, I'll take you shopping tomorrow to get ready for your new school." He said.

"Okay…" She walked out of the room to get another box. It was about ten pm and the city was still bustling with activity outside the apartment. Shea walked out onto the fire escape and looked out into the city.

She heard her father call from inside, "I'm going to go watch some TV in my room! You'll have a long day tomorrow so go to bed soon!"

She looked back to the city, admiring the bright lights that make the stars look like they are on the ground. Maybe. Just maybe she _can_ get used to this place. A sudden loud hiss at the end of the valley caught her attention.

-Shea-

Prologue continued

I was standing on the balcony trying to decipher where the eerie, hungry hiss had sounded. One minute past, then stretched to five minutes. The sound hadn't returned. I gave up on trying to listen for it again, and lightly touched my necklace. It had started glowing luminously and grew warm.

It was a bronze sword with a silvery handle, dangling from braided bronze. When I pressed the button on the pummel, the necklace turned into a full length bronze sword; the only thing I had left from my mom. I've never met her, except when I was born. But of course I don't remember that.

I have been having dreams about Greek gods and goddesses. I've always held a special place in my heart for mythology, but I didn't know I would dream about it. In the past few dreams I've had, I've been standing in some sort of camp in the forest, listening to a familiar, yet far away voice. I just couldn't put my finger on it about who it is. The voice was feminine, that's all I know. But this voice had been telling me over and over about what is supposedly going to happen in my future. And according to her, the main event is going to start soon.

I sighed, and looked up at the moon. Everywhere I've lived, including Arizona and Canada, I was the quiet, shy girl in class; not talking to anyone but my small circle of friends or the teacher. I wanted to change that. After all, the quiet people are the people to fear.

I needed to clear my mind. I trudged down the fire escape quietly and took a deep breath. I didn't exactly know where I was going, but I started walking down the street. To my left, a hobo reached out, which made me jump. I guess I have hobophobia, they creep me out.

"Help… Me…" He said in a deep, scary voice.

I was trembling. I should've walked away. Instead, my reflexes acted up. My hand turned a deep, midnight black and flexed toward the man.

His eyes turned startled. "What are-" He tried to finish, but his veins turned pitch-black, showing from underneath his shallow skin. The man crumpled over into his sack of dirty and ripped clothing. Did I kill him? No. I just poisoned him. I had this weird power, that if I'm scared or threatened, I can poison people or cause them to get a bad sickness. Depending on how bad it is, I can even kill them.

Shocked at my own actions, I walked away quickly. I decided to have some fun while I was out, so I located the nearest group of late-night shoppers. Five girls about 20 years old. I crossed the street and swiftly walked to the side of the small store they are standing outside of. Soundlessly, I jumped onto the hood of a car and leapt up on top of the store. Two steps, easy. I channeled my energy to a small flock of pigeons standing unaware of my presence. Another odd power, I can control animals.

The pigeons perked their heads and flew off the building. They crowded the group of teens, pecked at their hair, and flapped their wings in their faces.

I fell on the roof holding my stomach laughing. I _definitely _could've gotten used to that!

The girls screamed and ran away. I sat up and looked for more victims. New York was finally clearing out so it was harder to spot groups of people.

I was wandering down the streets downtown, when I heard a heavy slithering sound behind me. I turned around but saw nothing. I kept walking but I kept hearing the sound. It sounded like thousands of snakes were following me. Whenever I looked back, I saw nothing. I was the only one on the streets. Quickly, I stepped in to a dark, narrow alley. The slithering faded.

Suddenly, the air turned thin and freezing cold. I froze in my tracks. Standing at the end of the alley was a boy about my age. He had silvery white hair, and brilliant blue eyes. His pale skin went with his cold, mischievous smile. He was also holding a long wooden staff that curved at the tip like a crescent.

"You know, most demigods use their powers for defense, not offense."

I stared at him; he was incredibly good looking. "I was only having some fun. I don't get around much."

He only smirked. "Your new to this aren't you?"

"What?" I asked, even though I knew exactly what he was asking. A ladder caught the corner of my eye. I quickly ran toward the ladder and made my way up.

I got to the top, turned around, and leaped across the alley, landing on the opposite building. Not looking back, I ran across the roof and leapt over to the next building. I stopped immediately when I saw another peculiar girl standing in front of me, and I was trapped between two teens.

The girl was obviously Hispanic, with long black hair and piercing yellow eyes.

My hand automatically clutched my sword necklace. "Stay away from me." The necklace evaporated and a full sized bronze sword shined in my hand.

"That Celestial Bronze?" The girl asked. She stepped toward me touched the tip of my sword.

I moved my sword away from her hand and pointed it toward her neck. "Who are you and what do you want from me?

She looked at the guy, who shrugged. "My name is Jahziel," She placed two fingers on the flat of the blade and tipped it away from her. "And I'd prefer not to be threatened."

I rolled my eyes, and made my sword turn back into a necklace.

The boy moved over to stand by Jahziel, whose eyes flashed purple. "And I'm Jack."

"Like Jack Frost?"

"I get that a lot." He smiled.

I smiled too, slightly. "How do you know me?"

"I guess you could say we're friends of your mom." Jahziel said.

"You know my mom!?"

"Well- Not exactly."

Jack cleared his throat, "Um Jahziel why don't we tell her _why_ we're here."

"Oh, right," She looked embarrassed. "We need to take you to camp."

"Camp?" I asked. "I'm not a very social person." But on the inside, I was bursting with excitement. Maybe this camp they were taking me to was the one in my dream!

"Don't worry, you'll fit in just fine."

"What about my dad? Don't I have to tell him where I'm going?"

"Yeah I suppose. Come on lets go." They automatically started walking away.

After climbing the ladder back down, we headed to my apartment. It only took about ten minutes to walk back, and I was relieved to notice that the slithering sound had not returned. I led them up to my apartment and used my key to get us inside.

Jack whispered, "Go get any stuff you want to bring."

"Kay." I walked to my room and grabbed some things. A toothbrush and hairbrush, an extra pair of clothes, and a picture of my dad and I. I stuffed it all in a decent sized satchel and walked back to Jack and Jahziel. "I'll go talk to my dad, brb." I went to my dad's room and opened the door slowly.

The room was dark and the TV was still on, but my dad made no sign of movement. "Dad?" I flipped the light switch on, and stared at my father in horror. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

My dad was in bed with his eyes closed, but the white sheets were stained red… Blood.

Jack and Jahziel found me staring at my father, not moving or making a single sound. I was on my knees and had tears running down my cheeks. My eyes flicked away to the wall beside the bed.

Written on the wall in blood was:

_**YOU'RE NEXT, DEMIGOD**_

I heard Jack gasp in shock; Jahziel yelped and froze. Jack hurried forward and grabbed my arm.

"We need to get out of here. Come on." His face was stone. But I heard a quaver of fright in his voice. When I didn't move, he hauled me up and half carried, half dragged me to the kitchen. Then he set me down on one of the bar stools and went back to Jahziel and my dad.

I didn't move. I could feel myself moving into a state of shock. But that stopped when I heard the hissing sound again.

It was getting louder and louder, like it was heading toward me.

I stood up and looked in that direction. It was coming from my room.

No.

The bathroom.

Wait.

It's above me.

Scratch that.

Below me.

Before I could make up my mind, something leapt at me from behind. It tackled me to the ground hissing.

I struggled to get it off. Razor sharp claws scratched at my face. I screamed and kicked it to the side. My necklace felt searing hot. I clicked the button and the sword grew in my hand. I'd never used it in combat, but here goes.

It hissed, its yellow reptilian eyes glowed in the dark. It lunged at me again but I sidestepped slashed with my sword. It cut the side of the creature fairly deep, and made it ooze green goo. It smelled of toxins and poison.

Ew. Note to self: Don't touch blood of scary creature.

The thing only laughed, "Big mistake demigod." Turns out it could talk.

"Demigod? What-" I made the big mistake of letting my guard down.

It slashed at me again. But this time it wasn't claws. It had a weapon. It glinted in the moonlight from the window. And what I saw was a giant axe. But it was huge. The blade was curved like a three foot long crescent and was attached to a long wooden handle.

I knew I was going to die right when I saw it. It came down on me, but I didn't step back far enough. The blade grazed my stomach. I cried out in pain. Blood splattered on the floor. I raised my sword and swung it sideways at the creature.

But only the flat of the blade hit it. It yelled out in agony and held its head where it was hit.

I took my chance. I ran outside to the fire escape and started fleeing the scene.

I heard Jack yell, "SHEA!" A little late, dude.

Then Jahziel screamed, "Ohmigods ECHIDNA!"

I jumped the last set of stairs and started running.

"WATCH OUT!" Jack yelled.

I ducked just in time. A flying ice cube seven feet long shot out of my apartment window and sailed right over my head. I stood back up and looked at it.

Inside, was the thing that attacked me and killed my father. Jahziel had called it Echidna. It was a female humanoid, with green-scaled skin and yellow snake eyes. Its claws were the size of daggers. But what was most disturbing was the lower body. Waist down, she was a giant green serpent.

Suddenly her eyes focused on me, and I could hear muffled yelling.

I took off running down the street. My feet flew faster than I've ever run before. Eventually I realized that I'd run into a forest. I didn't know they had forests in New York. But that didn't matter.

I was exhausted. My head spun. I was bleeding heavily. Tears streaked down my face. And the pain was almost too much to bear. I slowed down and stumbled into a small clearing filled with roses. Like a rose garden in the middle of a forest.

My knees buckled and I fell down. Then the world went black.

_End of prologue_

_-Shea-_

The pain was… immense. I lay in the midst of a forest, in a small clearing filled with blooming velvet roses. The air was filled with the aroma of past rain and rust. No. Not rust. Blood. The scent filled my nose and awakened my senses. I opened my eyes to see the glowing moon above me. How long had I been out? I wondered. It felt like a millennia.

I tried to sit up, but pain shot up my body like a bolt of lightning. Where am I hurt? How did it happen? I attempted moving my arms; they worked fine. Next I tried my legs, they worked too, but not without a dash of searing pain. I turned my head to the right and watched the roses sway in the night breeze. The crimson beauties glistened with dew, and dripped blood the color of dark rubies.

I lifted my hand in front of my face, it was smeared red over my tanned skin. I lowered my hand gently to my side, searching for the source of pain. A sharp strike of agony ripped up my body as a single finger brushed part of the wound on my hip. I pursed my lips together tightly to prevent the oncoming scream. Slowly, and carefully, I traced two fingers over the wound. It ran all the way from my right hip, to my left rib cage. The gash was long and half an inch deep, but at least it wasn't bleeding anymore.

I heard feet gliding across the forest floor. More than one. Three maybe? My instincts kicked in and I felt for a weapon. Anything. A rock, a stick, a feather, anything. But I saw nothing but bloody roses and leaves. The moonlight glinted off of something metallic. It caught my eye and I looked over.

It was a sword. I braced myself for more pain, and sat up quickly. Red-hot electricity burned through my entire body. I leaned over, grabbed it, and laid back down. Then I waited for the pain to subside. After it did, I stood up unsteadily. I heard the brush parting to right, and I lifted the sword in that direction.

A guy about sixteen years old moved a large tree branch out of his way. Then he saw me and said, "Woah."

Another guy standing beside him lifted a bronze sword.

"Jack, wait!" A girl about the same age as they were popped up from behind them and snatched the sword out of the boy's hand. "Look at her, its Shea. She's just hurt."

Didn't need to tell them twice. I felt like a mess.

"Shea?" Said the one called Jack.

"Yes. Now that we've found her, we need to keep her alive."

The other boy interrupted. "Uh, guys?" He pointed to me; I was backing up and then ran in the opposite direction.

After the boys hesitated what to do, the girl yelled, "Get her! We can't lose her again!"

I kept running but my wound was holding me back. Why were they trying to get me? Did I do something that I didn't remember? All I knew is that I had to stay away from them. The other kids weren't far behind, so I climbed up onto a huge boulder and jumped into a big pine tree. After the pain went away, I climbed up higher. The kids halted right under me.

"Where'd she go? She was right here…"

"Split up and meet back here in ten minutes." The girl said. And they ran off in three different directions.

I sat down on a sturdy branch and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. I closed my eyes and slowly began to remember some stuff. My name was Shea Artisan, I was sixteen, and I was living in New York with my dad for a year. That's where I was, in a forest in New York. That's all I remembered.

I set the sword in my lap and studied it. The blade was bronze and had beautiful etchings of tree branches and deer horns on it. The hilt was wrapped with leather, and the very bottom had a button on it. Out of curiosity, I pressed it. The sword turned to mist and drifted to my neck, where it re-solidified as a necklace.

Now that was freaking amazing.

The moon shined down on me, and I could've sworn that I was being watched… Then I heard talking below me. I looked down and saw that the teens had gathered again.

My wound had gone numb (which I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing), so I decided to have a little fun while it lasted. I quietly moved down several branches to another strong branch just above them and listened to their conversation.

"Obviously none of us found her." One of the boys said.

The girl responded sarcastically, "Thank you captain obvious."

"Hey I was just pointing it out-," He got cut off.

"-Who you guys looking for?" I asked innocently.

They all backed up and stared up at me in confusion. "You…" They said in union.

"You were there the whole time…?" The girl asked.

"Yep." I stated simply.

"Well… Can you get down?" Asked Jack.

"Why?"

"We need to take you to camp."

"Sorry, but I don't do camps." I started to climb back up the tree.

"Your mom's orders."

I stopped.

Sudden flashbacks zipped through my mind. I saw my father begging my mother not to go; and my mom abandoning us like she doesn't care about us… At all. Even if she does care, I don't. I hate her for abandoning me.

"My mom…?" I turned back to face them.

"Yeah." The girl watched me closely.

"That's… Impossible. As far as I know, my mom left me and never came back."

This time the other boy spoke, "Um, sorry about that. But, um, you kind of _have_ to come with us."

"Even if I wanted to go, I wouldn't. Just because we're the same age doesn't make you trustworthy."

"You can trust us."

I snickered. "Yeah, right."

The girl turned to the boys and spoke to them in a hushed voice. "We may have to use force."

"I can hear you, I'm standing right here."

They ignored me and resumed talking in a quieter tone. I was really starting to dislike them. And I was running out of time, my wound was starting to ache.

I guessed they were trying to be nice because the girl said, "It appears you have amnesia, Shea. So, let us introduce ourselves, then maybe you'll trust us at least a little. I'm Jahziel Perez." She was Hispanic (hence the name) and had long black hair. Her skin was un-tanned, and she was skinny and slightly above average height.

"I'm Jack." He had a Canadian accent, cute! But what stood out about him were his piercing features. His hair was snow-white, with a little silverish-blue. And his eyes were such a light and shiny blue that they looked like ice.

I laughed under my breath.

He noticed and asked, "What?"

"Jack Frost."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." He smiled. "My last name isn't Frost though, it's Stone. Jack Stone."

I didn't know what to say so I just nodded and received a jealous glare from Jahziel.

"And I'm Ajax." I finally got a good look at the guy. His exotic name went perfectly with his sexy features. He had brown hair and beautiful yellow eyes, which reminded me of lightning. I almost fell out of the tree just looking at him. And then I realized how he was looking at me. His electric eyes were fixed on me intently, as if he was trying to decide something.

I finally dragged my eyes off him and gave them a mental slap. Just cause there were two hotties didn't make me vulnerable to letting them kidnap me.

Then I realized something. When I first talked to Jahziel, her eyes were brown, and then her eyes were red when I was talking to Jack, and now her eyes were green. Huh.

"Well Shea, you wanna come with us now?" She asked.

"No."

"Why?" Her expression turned frustrated.

"I still don't know you."

"Yeah, we just told you who we are."

"Doesn't mean I trust you."

Her eyes turned red again. This freaked me out.

"Are you going to come with us or not!?" She yelled.

I didn't answer.

She took a deep breath and said, "We have orders to bring you to our camp."

"Orders from who?"

"I can't tell you until you trust us"

My throat was dry and I didn't know what to do. You know how your parents always tell you "don't talk to strangers"? This is what I was experiencing right now. I didn't know if they were considered "strangers" or not.

Jahziel turned to Jack and he got the message. He reached back and grabbed the hilt of a sword that was strapped to his back.

I had no idea what he was doing. So I snatched my sword off the branch next to me and chucked it at him.

But he pulled out the sword and slammed it into the side of my sword at an incredible speed. The sword went sailing to his right and hit Jahziel smack in the head; knocking her out.

Two things that surprised me; one, Jack's sword wasn't a sword. It was a staff. His staff reached half a foot above him and was woven candy cane style out of thin wood. The top was curved over to make what looked like half a heart.

Second thing. Jahziel should've had a sword sticking out of her brain. But the weapon laid next to her unconscious body, covered in slick ice. All she had was a huge bump on the side of her head. But… Where had the ice come from?

I looked back at Jack; he looked like he was trying to register what happened. He looked at me, then Jahziel, then me, then Jahziel, then back at me, and lunged forward. He slammed his staff against the branch I was on and immediately the branch froze and crystallized in ice.

I jumped in surprise and got to a new branch just as the old one gave way.

Jack looked… Mad. He was about to strike again but Ajax caught his arm.

"Cool it. It's not her fault she's acting this way." Ajax said.

At least _somebody _here understood me.

Jack tore his arm way from Ajax and tended to Jahziel. He inspected her injury and took out a canteen labeled _NECTAR_, and poured a small amount in her mouth.

Her eyes flickered open almost immediately and the welt on her head disappeared.

"Will you come now?" Ajax lifted his hand up toward me offering assistance. "Please."

I sighed and, ignoring Ajax's kind gesture, I hopped off the tree and landed on the ground wincing.

Ajax let his hand fall down to his side looking slightly offended. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." I said quickly.

"You're hurt." He took a step toward me and I didn't resist as he eyed my wound. Looking back at Jack, he said, "We need to get her to the chariot, NOW."

The pain was ebbing its way back now. "Chariot…?" I asked, but I had hardly heard myself. The world was turning clockwise and my vision blurred. Suddenly the excruciating pain hit again like a sharp knife just re-stabbed everywhere I was injured.

The leaves on the trees grayed and spread like black and white ink everywhere I looked. Even Ajax's luminous eyes dulled. I could see his lips moving but I heard nothing.

I felt my body move in a falling sensation; and I saw Ajax lurch forward and catch me in his arms. He knelt at the ground with my limp body against him. His worried expression on his robust face was the last thing I saw before the image was eaten away by blackness.

I woke up a couple minutes later. All I saw was Ajax's eyes in the dark woods. He was carrying me somewhere. Right when I thought I could walk on my own, I blacked out for the third time.

I opened my eyes and only saw fog. I heard the flap of bird wings… Very big birds.

I sat up and winced. I had the strange feeling that I wasn't on the ground anymore. My fingers slipped off the edge of the surface I was sitting on. I looked over the edge and saw lights shining like stars. But that didn't make sense. I was looking downward, how was I looking at the stars?

Then it struck me like a slap in the face. I was in the sky. The fog wasn't fog; it was clouds. The stars weren't stars; they were city lights. I'm not scared of heights, but this sudden realization caught me off guard, and before I knew it, my hand slipped and I was falling to my death.

A hand shot out of the clouds as fast as a bullet and gripped my wrist. I couldn't see who it was because of the dark and water vapor. I was pulled up back onto the chariot we were riding on.

"Did you just try to kill yourself?" Ajax stared down at me with a stern expression, but I could see amusement in his eyes.

"I- I just- No." I answered.

"Your crazy." Jack said behind Ajax.

"Well sorry. Didn't exactly get a warning."

He just shrugged and laughed a little.

I looked up at Ajax. He was about four or five inches taller than me. He was really handsome…

"I bet you have a lot of questions." He guessed.

"Yeah. Is this a bad time to ask?"

"Kind of. But it's a good time to say thank you."

I was about to ask why. But then I realized he just saved my life. "Thanks."

He smiled. "No problem."

I turned and looked in the direction we were heading. The moon was still high in the sky. The lights from the city faded into the darkness of a forest.

"Welcome to Long Island, Shea." Jack said.

I'd never been to New York before. Never really wanted to. Too many people.

Suddenly our ride lurched downward.

"Jahziel, keep Violet steady! She's gonna get us killed."

I looked forward and saw Jahziel on the back of a horse. With wings.

There were two winged horses pulling us. One was completely lavender with rainbows wings and mane; that must be Violet. The one Jahziel was riding was tannish-gold one with a white mane and rainbow colored wings.

Well this was new. I've never seen a pegasus. Much less a multicolored horse. I thought they were just fictitious creatures.

Our ride descended to the ground next to a large pine tree. Hanging in the tree was what looked like golden sheep wool. And lying on the opposite side of the pine was a large bronze-scaled dragon.

It opened one of its reptilian eyes and studied us for half a second. Then went back to sleep.

The air smelled like strawberries and pine trees. We were in the forest, but the trees cleared for the camp. It was beautiful. I felt right at home.

There were acres of strawberry fields and in the distance, Greek style buildings wrapped in an upside down U shape.

The pegasi folded their wings and pulled the chariot down the hill to a nice sized house. It had a wrap around porch and at least five stories.

Jahziel hopped off her pegasus and patted its flank. Then Ajax, Jack, and I got off the chariot.

A middle-aged man in a wheelchair approached us with a warm smile. He had a neatly trimmed beard and long dark brown hair. "I see you are successful."

"Yes, Chiron." Jahziel boasted.

"Any attacks?"

"Surprisingly, no."

"Good." He looked at me. "I am Chiron, the activities director here at Camp Half-Blood. Welcome."

"Hi…" I wasn't really paying any attention. I was too busy looking around.

"Come inside. We'll get you some help." He wheeled himself into the house.

We followed him in and sat down at a table in the kitchen. Already sitting down, was a pudgy man wearing a leopard print shirt and purple running shorts. He was focused on a card game of some sort.

He sighed when we came in, "Back so soon?"

Chiron said, "Shea, this is Mr. D. Mr. D, meet Shea."

He only grunted and said, "Bathroom is down the hall. You should go wash up."

I looked at Chiron.

He just shrugged.

So I went down the hall and found the bathroom. I locked the door behind me and sighed. Man, was I tired. When I opened my eyes, I had no idea who I was looking at. Then I noticed that the other person did exactly what I did, at the exact same time. I was looking in a mirror. My eyes widened when I realized this.

I had blood all over my left cheek, leaves in my tangled hair, and my clothes were ripped and bloody. Quickly, I splashed warm water on my face and rubbed the dried blood off. Then I picked each leaf out of my hair one by one and brushed my hair with a brush I found in a small bag around my shoulder I just noticed I had. I also had a toothbrush, so I brushed my teeth. I washed all the dirt off of me with a wet towel and made myself look as decent as possible.

I looked so much better. I wouldn't have been surprised if I looked like a Sasquatch at first glance. But now, I looked like the Shea Artisan that I know. I smiled at myself.

But that smile quickly faded because I noticed something. I didn't remember _anything._ All I could think of from my past was my name, how old I was, and where I was. I had amnesia.

So looking at myself in the mirror was like meeting someone new; because you've never seen them before. My hair was light brown, with natural blonde highlights (from living in Arizona), which I noticed blended like gold in the light. And my eyes were not the color you'd see a normal person with. They were pure silver, glittering like the moon.

The other thing I noticed was my wounds. On my cheek where the blood was, there were three gashes side by side, like claws. I lifted up my shirt and looked at my more serious wound. Sure enough, it was half an inch deep and over a foot long.

I cleaned it up as much as I could without hurting myself, and slung my satchel back over my shoulder.

Much better.

I walked out of the bathroom and down the hall back to the kitchen.

It appeared that everyone was playing spin the bottle, the game where you have to kiss the person the bottle points to. Wonder who came up with that idea. Cause even Mr. D seemed to be having a good time.

The bottle had been spinning, and as I entered the room, it stopped- pointing at me.

Everyone turned to me at once, which made me blush.

"Woah." Ajax said. Hah, that's the same thing he said when I saw him for the first time.

Mr. D looked impressed. "You cleaned up well girlie. Too bad Ace has to kiss you now."

Ajax looked embarrassed. "Ok, first, my name isn't Ace. It's Ajax. Second, she's not even playing."

"Shame." Mr. D said with a bored expression.

Chiron wheeled out from the table and over to me. "Come." He continued down the hall.

Jahziel followed us as we came to a large room with multiple small beds. "The infirmary," She said, "Have a seat."

I sat down on the closest bed and Jahziel stood in front of me.

"You some kind of doctor?" I asked her.

"I guess you could say that. Hold out your wrist."

I did as instructed, and she pinched my wrist with her fingers.

"Pulse is a little high from your body trying to gain back all the blood you lost. Drink this." She handed me a glass with some strong smelling liquid in it. "It'll heal you."

I took the glass and took a small sip. "It tastes like cookies."

"Is that your favorite food?"

"One of them."

"That drink is called nectar. It's made to taste like your favorite food. And it heals you."

"That's weird."

"But cool, huh?"

"Yeah." I took another drink and instantly started feeling better.

Jahziel studied my wounds. "It's working a little slow but that's probably from Echidna's poison."

"Wait, what poisoned me?" I asked.

"Echidna. Mother of Monsters. The big lizard-snake woman that attacked you?"

I shook my head slowly, "You mean the Echidna from Greek mythology?"

Chiron stroked his beard. "Jahziel, remember that Shea doesn't know about this yet."

"Oh, right. Forgot." She turned back to me. "So you've heard of the Greek gods and goddesses?"

"Yeah! I'm like a total nerd about them."

"That's good. So I take it you've studied them?"

"Oh yeah."

"So my guess is that you've heard of a demigod."

A sudden image flashed in my head, a memory of seeing blood written on the wall: _You're next demigod_.

I blinked and pushed that image to the back of my head. "Yes. They're the children of a god and a mortal."

"Correct."

"So what are you saying?" I said, my eyes narrowing.

"You and me?" She gestured with her finger. "We're demigods."

I took a moment to process this. "This is like the best dream ever."

She sighed, "You're not dreaming. That's why you feel pain."

I stayed silent a moment longer. "So the Greek gods, and everything else in Greek mythology- is real?"

"Yes." She watched me closely.

Slowly, a smile crept onto my face, and yelled, "That is the coolest thing I've ever heard!" I sprang to my feet. "So do I have superpowers or something? Cause that'd be even more awesome."

Jahziel looked surprised, "You believe me?"

"Well, yeah."

She laughed a little, "This isn't usually the response we get when we break the news."

"Oh well, there's a first for everything."

Chiron smiled. "How's that wound holding up now?"

I had completely forgotten about that for a minute. Then I realized I had just stood up with no pain. I sat back down and looked at my wound. It was gone, except for the new pale scar. "It's healed?" I asked more to myself.

"Yep. The food of the gods has its perks." She smiled.

"That's amazing." I said.

"So do you have any questions?" She asked.

"Yeah, two."

"Shoot."

"Who's my mom?"

"We don't know. We have to wait for your mom to claim you."

"Oh…"

"What else?"

I looked up and into her eyes. "What happened to me…?"

Jahziel pursed her lips and looked away. "You don't want to know."

"Yes, I do."

"It was scarring to witness. If I could have it erased from my memory like you did, I would." She didn't meet my eyes.

I didn't push her to tell me. "All I remember is my name, my age, and the fact that my mortal parent is my father."

"Was…" She murmured.

"What?"

"Nothing." She stood up, nodded to Chiron, and walked out.

"What was that all about?" I asked Chiron.

"I will talk to her." When he realized I was still waiting for an answer, he said, "You really don't want to know what happened to you."

"It's my life. I deserve to know what happened." I said stubbornly. I wasn't known for being stubborn, but this was annoying me.

"Amnesia is usually only temporary. You could get your memory back anywhere between now and a millennia." And with that, he wheeled out of the room.

I sighed and laid down. Right went my eyes closed; I drifted off into sleep, into a world of dreams.

_The dream played like an old black and white movie. I watched as a bystander but I was invisible to the others. These weren't dreams- they were memories_

_It was night when I saw a woman in a silver cloak walk up the steps to a house in Arizona. She had a hood pulled over her head so I couldn't see her face. In her arms was a baby. She rung the doorbell and a man probably in his twenties opened the door._

"_Ar-" He was cut off by the woman, who had put a finger to his lips._

"_Do not say my name, how many times do I have to tell you that?"_

"_Sorry." A wide grin appeared on his face._

_The lady put the baby in his arms. "This is Shea. She is yours. Take care of her well, as she is not full mortal."_

_He smiled down at the little girl. "She's beautiful. She has your eyes."_

_The lady smiled, but it quickly faded. "This will be the last time you see me."_

"_Wait, what?" His tone turned shocked. "Why? I-I thought-" She cut him off again._

"_You are the only man I've ever loved. And you will be the last." She kissed him lightly on the cheek, and then the baby. "Goodbye." She didn't wait for an answer. She turned and walked away._

"_No! Don't go! Don't leave me! Please!" He started to follow her, but the lady glowed brightly, and he had to look away. When he opened his eyes again, she was gone._

_The next dream was in Oregon. The same man was there, but he looked older and depressed. He watched as the little girl ran across the room with her toys. She was about five years old now._

"_Daddy play with me!" She handed him a blue plush pegasus._

"_Not now sweetie." He yawned._

_She frowned. "But you are just sitting there."_

"_Yes, I am."_

_She picked up her toy pegasus and made it kiss his nose. "Pegasus wants you to play with us."_

_A hint of a smile crept onto his face. "Alright kiddo." He grabbed Pegasus and started playing with the little girl._

_The next memory was with the same people. But the girl was about ten years old and the man was in his high thirties. They were in the forest hunting._

"_Your mother was the master at archery."_

"_Is this how you two met?"_

_He smiled. "Yeah, I took down the deer she was just about to kill, and she almost got my head for it. But she respected me instead. For being quicker than her, and the fact that I stuck to the old way- with a bow and arrow." He handed the girl a bow. "Aim for that target I set up on that tree." He pointed._

_The girl got the bow into position and knocked an arrow in it. Her position was perfect, no flaws._

_Her dad was already impressed. "Now, let it fly."_

_She concentrated, and let go of the arrow._

_Bulls eye._

_The last memory was what happened in the apartment in New York. The father was in his early forties and the girl was sixteen. They were unpacking since they just moved in. After the dad went to bed, the girl went for a late night walk. I followed her and watched as she poisoned a hobo, freaked out a bunch of teenagers with birds, met two strangers, brought them to her apartment, and found her dad dead. On the wall is what I remembered earlier: _You're next, demigod.

_When she go tout of the room, she was attacked by a reptilian woman. She was clawed at the face, and cut across the stomach with a giant axe looking thing. She got away, and almost got hit by the reptile-lady in a giant block of ice. She looked at the monster, and a name struck me: _Echidna. _The girl freaked and ran away into a forest, and eventually passed out._

I woke with a sharp breath. There were tears in my eyes. I had my memory back.

24

24 


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